I'm Stronger Than You Think
by Enough Said
Summary: Against his better judgment, Ezio decides to take a novice named Lia under his wing. But she doesn't 'seem' to have much potential as an Assassin. Will she prove him right? Or will she be strong enough to prove him wrong? Ezio x OC Rated M for language, strong-violence, and love scenes in future chapters. Please Review!
1. No Focus

I do not own Assassin's Creed. It's owned compeletly by Ubisoft.

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I'm Stronger Than You Think

Chapter 1: No Focus

I admired him from afar. He seemed so close yet so out of my reach. What would someone like me have to do to be with someone like him. An Auditore. It's hard for assassins to fall in love. Mostly out of fear of dying and leaving behind a grief stricken family. Always going on missions; unsure if you'll return. It's a life too stressful for most spouses to handle.

"Lia, what are you doing?" Ezio said suddenly behind me. I jumped. How did he get behind me? "Uh, nothing sir." I hope he didn't realize I was watching him. "Hmmm..." Yup he figured it out! "Well instead of spying on me how about you start your training." He said smiling. Damn it, nothing gets past him. "Yes sir." I said blushing. I ran to the other end of the courtyard to meet with my mentor, Dante. Ezio only trained people who had 'true potential', whatever. I have potential...don't I?

"Lia, you're late." Dante yelled at me. "So." I replied, defiantly not in the mood for a lecture. I tried to focus on training with Dante but I couldn't help constantly glancing over at Ezio and his pupil, Diego. Diego was so lucky to be able to train under Ezio. Just as I turned my attention back to Dante he punched me (pretty hard) in the face. I hit the ground and blacked out.

I slowly opened my eyes; my vision still a bit blurry. Once I regained full consciousness I realized it was Ezio kneeling over me. "Are you alright, Lia?" He asked me. His beautiful golden eyes full of worry. "Oh, yes I'm fine." I replied and quickly sat up, which made me a bit dizzy. Dante and Diego were kneeling on either side of Ezio. "Why did you hit me that hard, jerk!?" I yelled at Dante. "That's what you get for paying more attention to Ezio than me." Dante replied with a smirk. I glared at him, my cheeks burning.

Ezio helped me up and we all walked back to the villa for a break.

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Hope you enjoyed; more chapters to come.


	2. Some Things Aren't Fair

Chapter 2: Some Things Aren't Fair

The next day of training didn't go much better either. "All you do is watch Ezio. You pay absolutely no attention to me!" Dante yelled at me. We were sitting on a bench in the courtyard once we were done training. "Well excuse me." I replied and rolled my eyes. "Tonight we should talk to Mario." My heart sank. Mario wasn't going to be happy about my, lately, short attention span.

That evening Dante dragged me to Mario's office. Mario, Ezio, Leonardo da Vinci, and Lorenzo were all in his office. Lorenzo is Mario's right hand man, who takes care of things that Mario is too busy to deal with. For one he's in charge of the Assassins. Or well, he thinks he's in charge of us. But he mainly only has power over the novices. Leonardo da Vinci has been here for the last couple of days telling Mario and Ezio about his latest invention. I unfortunately wasn't able to hear more details about this machine but it was apparently supposed to help make our lives easier. Please! The only thing that would make our lives easier would be the fall of the Templars... let's see da Vinci make that happen. Now _that_ would be impressive.

"Dante, what is it?" Mario asked raising an eyebrow at me. I turned my head. "This little girl is impossible for me to teach! And I refuse to train her anymore!" Dante demanded. Who was he calling little! "What seems to be her problem?" Lorenzo asked. "All she does is stare over at Ezio in the middle of training. She is obviously in love with the guy and her emotions are getting in the way!" At that point I had had enough. I stomped hard on Dante's foot. Judging by the way he cried out and fell back, I'd say it must have felt like a fifty pound bag of bricks fell on his foot. Leonardo laughed out loud, Lorenzo slapped his forehead and let out a deep sigh, Ezio just stared at us like the fools we are, and Mario shook his head and chuckled.

"Lia, are you in love with Ezio?" Lorenzo asked chuckling a bit. "No! I just..." I paused for a moment. "Go on." Mario said to me. "I just wish I could be trained by Ezio!" Everyone went silent by my accidental outburst. Lorenzo decided to speak up. "Lia you know Ezio only trains the more experienced assassins. You're still new to this." So that's what they were calling it now; 'experienced'. More like promising, and according to Dante I showed very little promise. "All of these excuses! Stop being so nice! Just say it; I'm not good enough to be his pupil!" I yelled and then ran out of Mario's office.

After about an hour there was a knock on my door. Unlike most of the assassins who train here, I live in the villa Auditore. Because I don't have a family and because at my age it's hard to live on your own, I was allowed by Mario to live here with his family. The only other person outside the family who lives here is Lorenzo; since he can't get a wife or another purpose in his life other than being an assassin. I rarely see the Auditore family, since I live on the opposite wing of the villa. The only time I see them all is at dinner. I know there is Mario, Ezio, his mother Maria, and his sister Claudia. I don't know much about Maria or Claudia or Ezio's past. I sometimes wonder what happened to his father but being too afraid to ask I just guessed he'd passed away or something. Claudia is nice and very smart too. Maria doesn't talk much and keeps to herself but on the rare occasions she does speak, it's always with a soft gentle tone.

Another knock at the door then I hear a voice. "Lia, may I come in?" It sounded like Ezio. "Si, you may." I replied. Ezio stepped into the room, I was sitting on my bed. My back was to him so he couldn't see my tears. Assassins were not supposed to cry; emotions were signs of weakness. "Lia would you like to talk?" Ezio asked as he walked around my bed and touched my shoulder. "Not really." I said to him. He walked over and knelt in front of me to see my face. "Your eyes are puffy. Have you been crying?" He had a sympathetic look on his face. "No!" I shot back. He smiled. "It's alright. You don't have to lie." He placed his hand on mine that was resting on my knee. I smiled; somehow Ezio always knew how to make me feel better without even trying. Probably the gentle voice he always used with me when we were alone. It made me feel special because he didn't use that voice with anyone but me, not even his family. He stood up and walked over to the door. I turned to face him. "I need time to think about things. We'll talk more in the morning." With that he walked out of the room closing the door behind him. What was it he needed to think about and more importantly what did it have to do with me?


	3. A Little Faith

Chapter 3: A Little Faith

The next morning I woke to the sound of people yelling. I crept out of my room and down the hall. As I made my way from the west wing to the main section of the villa, the yelling seemed to get louder and louder. Soon I came to Mario's office, where the yelling seemed to be coming from. The door was cracked a bit so I decided to eavesdrop. "You're insane, Ezio! There are too many other young assassins in need of your guidance and you're thinking about giving your full attention to a hopeless novice like Lia?" Lorenzo yelled at Ezio in his shrilly voice. I made a mental note to punch Lorenzo in the face later. I mean who the hell was he calling hopeless!? "Look, I know Lia may not seem that skillful but looks can be deceiving. Who knows; maybe if pushed hard enough she could reach her full potential." Ezio responded, confidence in his voice. Ezio always believed in me, even when I didn't believe in myself. "Well Ezio if you're sure she's got what it takes then you may take her under your wing. Just be sure not to neglect Diego and his training. Understand?" Mario told him. "Yes uncle. I promise she won't disappoint us." Ezio reassured them.

Back in my room as I got dressed, I couldn't help but smile widely to myself. Ezio was taking me on as his pupil. Me, not only a novice but a girl at that, and he had one hundred percent confidence in me. There was no way I was going to let him down. I was gonna train extra hard and give it my all...maybe even more. I heard a knock on my door. "Lia it's me, may I come in?" It was Ezio. "Just a minute." I said, quickly pulling my shirt over my bare chest and pulling my hair out of the horribly messy bun it was in and let it flow down my back. Once I thought I looked decent enough; I called Ezio in.

When he walked in he stopped dead in his tracks. He stared at me for a few moments. "What?" I asked. My question seemed to bring him back to reality. "Oh, nothing, it's just...you look very pretty with your hair down like that." I could feel myself blushing at the compliment. "Uh, grazie." I replied. "Anyway I have great news. I'm going to be training you from now on." Ezio told me happily. I tried to sound extra excited; even though I already knew this. "Ezio, thank you so much! I promise, I will make you very proud." I said, maybe too cheerfully. Ezio had a very serious expression as he explained to me. "But understand Lia, I won't be going easy on you just because you're a novice or a woman. I'm going to treat you the same as all my other pupils. The training will be hard work but I'm sure you'll be able to handle it." I nodded in response.

We talked for a while longer, and then it was time for him to go train Diego. He opened the door and stepped out, but before he closed it; I called to him. "Ezio, thanks for having faith in me." I said smiling. "You're welcome." He replied and walked back out. I was so overjoyed, because for once in a long time; I felt full of hope and pride, and I was going to make Ezio even more proud. I closed my hand around the small locket around my neck, closed my eyes and said a small prayer. I thought of my mother and father, and knew I was going to make them proud too.


	4. Leap of Faith

Chapter 4: The Leap of Faith

For the next six months I trained hard under Ezio's guidance. Every day was a new challenge and through sheer will power, I made it through it all. But there was one thing I refused to do that was essential for an assassin, the Leap of Faith. The reason why I was so afraid was because so many novices who had tried to do it wound up with so many horrible injuries if they didn't land properly. So many had ended up with broken legs, arms, necks, backs; a couple of them even died. Honestly I didn't see the point of such a skill. I mean yeah, it made getting down from tall buildings or getting away from guards much easier, but was it really worth the risk of dying!

"No way! Not gonna happen!" Were my exact words to Ezio when he tried to persuade me to attempt the leap. "Lia, preforming the Leap of Faith is one of the many things that make us assassins. You MUST learn how to do it properly." Ezio explained calmly but sternly. I could tell by the look in his eyes and the sound of his voice that this time he wasn't taking no for an answer. Today I was going to have to do this, whether I liked it or not. I pouted at him for a moment. He sighed deeply before he spoke. "What if I do it with you a couple of times, will that make you feel better?" I thought for a moment. "Okay." I replied. Ezio walked up behind me and wrapped his arms protectively around my waist. I couldn't help the blush that crept across my face. "Are you ready?" Ezio asked me in a gentle voice. I looked down below; we must have been at least fifty feet from the ground. I took a deep breath, "Okay I'm ready." I started trembling a little. "An assassin shows no fear, Lia. Don't worry I got you." He whispered in my ear. Maybe my fear of heights was making me a bit crazy but I could've sworn his voice sounded a bit seductive.

Ezio picked me up a bit so my feet weren't touching the ground and then before I knew it we were off the side of the building and headed straight for a pile of hay below us. I held my breath as I felt Ezio's grip on me grow tighter. In the blink of an eye we had landed safely into the hay. I opened my eyes and realized I was on top of Ezio. He must have turned us around at some point during the fall. I turned over to see his face; he opened his eyes and just stared into mine. His face was expressionless but there was this look in his eyes, a look that just made me feel safe and at peace.

After a while Ezio finally spoke, "Well that's how it's done. Would you like me to do it with you again?" I was still a bit nervous, so one more time wouldn't hurt. "Yes once more please, Ezio." He practiced the leap with me one more time before it was my turn to do it alone. He was down below standing next to the pile of hay. "Whenever you're ready Lia." He yelled up to me. I took a deep breath, said a small pray and jumped. I remembered what Ezio had done; I turned myself around so my back was facing the ground. Somewhere along the way I had closed my eyes, but when I opened them I was lying safely and uninjured in the hay. I poked my head out of the hay to see Ezio looking at me smiling. "You did it Lia, I'm so proud of you."

I thought about it for a moment. The rush of the fall was so exhilarating and it caused such an adrenaline rush. I hopped out of the hay and smiled at Ezio. "Ezio, can I do it again?"


End file.
